T-1 month to one year

Happy 11 months (two days late!), little man!  Dear Lord, in just a month, we will have a one year old!  They say time flies when your kiddos are growing up, and that has definitely been true.  It feels like just yesterday that we were bring you home from the hospital.

Your Profile
You are fully toddler these days - complete with temper tantrums, full spectrum of movement, and (strong) opinions of your own.  In general, your personality is still sweet, and you are a happy, giggly little boy who wishes that he could eat every.thing.  We have tried finding a food you wouldn't eat, and still to this day, have not had luck.  Grapefruit was a close one, but you ate it anyhow.  And pickles you demolished with joy.  You are cruising, free-standing, walking pushing a walker (or the kitchen chairs!) and just four days ago, took your first independent step.  You are a man on the move, but you do still occasionally let mommy and daddy snuggle with you - but only when you're tired.

Things you've Learned
You're quite accomplished at freestanding and racer speed crawling.  You are learning how to use a spoon - but only when you decide you want to.  You learned how to give kisses - and love giving big slobbery ones to Mommy and Daddy.  You also learned how to play peek-a-boo, where you will hide from us, and then peek out.  Your timing is a little rough, but you find it hilarious.  Just today, you learned how to high five Daddy.  You also learned how to open cupboard doors, the trashcan, and the toilet.  Child safety locks are Mommy's best friends.

Also, you learned that you are going to be a big brother in June!  Your feelings on this matter are still somewhat mixed, as you don't fully know what "brother" means.

Your Firsts

• You took your first step - chasing a food, what else! (a dill pickle, for those curious)
• You learned your first word - "Hi" and greet everyone, from the TV anchors to Mommy and Daddy to the Christmas tree with it.  You have since also added "Da-da-da-da" but we're still not sure that you fully know what you mean and "nom nom" for when you're hungry.  Oh and you think that a sheep says "ha ha" which you will answer when we ask you what a sheep says!
• You celebrated your first Thanksgiving with all of Mommy's extended family - Christmas Dinner in Williamsburg with Daddy's family.  You continue to love visiting family and have a very sweet personality in travel, as well as large groups of people.  You are quite the star of the show wherever we go.  You also love the fact that our families have dogs that you get to play with, as dogs continue to be one of your favorites!
• You also went to the Museum of Fine Arts for the first time, dressed in your beret, and were quite a hit with the French tourists, as well as all the ladies.  You chattered through all of it!

Things you Like

• You continue to love all foods
• You love being tossed and tickled
• You LOVE to laugh and keep us giggling all the time!
• You love to read stories about animals - you really like dogs
• You love bath time
• You love the dishwasher, the microwave, and the refrigerator, as well as all the trash cans
• You really like being around people - family and friends

We love you buddy! :)

Anatomy of an Apology

"I'm sorry."

Two and a half small words, that when said with sincerity, heal and restore - and when absent, or cheapened with sarcasm and insincerity, deepen or hide the chasm.

I've been thinking a lot about the power of these two words lately - and apologies done well, and apologies done poorly.

My family culture is not big on apologies - and I think in many ways this is true for a lot of us.  If, when, we mess up - hurt feelings, step on toes, have conflict between good friends or family - we tend to resolve it by stepping over it, burying it, and trying to be extra nice to make up for it.  Or, saying "sorry..." as the beginning of a sentence that then explains how the error was not actually our fault or shouldn't have bothered the other person (making excuses to justify ourselves and then trying to move on).  Or just pretending it never happened and never addressing it - hoping the other person doesn't either - but neither one fully forgetting.  Or, the more extroverted version - argue extra loud your own individual side and justifications and feelings until both sides are tired, done arguing, and (might) feel heard, but neither one has actually owned anything or apologized in any way.

On the flip side of the spectrum, just to be fair, are those who constantly apologize for everything, even things that are not their fault, in the effort to maintain peace and harmony.   In this too, I would argue that true apology is also absent - what you have instead is a stop-gap designed to end a conflict, again without real resolution because all too often, constant apologizers rob others of the right and responsibility of owning their own actions.

In my family culture, we are bury-ers and extra-nice-ers.   But the words "I'm sorry" rarely cross our lips, unless in the context of "I'm sorry, okay??  What do you want from me? Let's move on." 

As I grew up, however, through wisdom, or perhaps rebellion, or perhaps just a desire for change - I made a commitment that I would - no matter the cost - apologize and own my own mistakes and ways that I hurt others.  As I have aged, and am aging, I am growing in not cheapening apology by overcompensating and constant apologizing.  And both have served me well - I have learned that deep healing in relationships, and true reconciliation, only happen when error is faced and owned.  And so for that reason, I share with you now what I have learned, about the anatomy of an apology.  It goes something like this:

1.  I feel like I should apologize to you...
2.  I did/didn't do X... (always personal pronouns, and a specific apology).
3.  That was (wrong of me, not respectful of you, hurtful to you, made you feel X...).  I'm sorry.
4.  Will you please forgive me?"
5.  And then you don't say anything more and let them respond.

It is sincere.  In that, it should never be shouted.  It's not part of a fight.  Or even part of the conflict.  It is a deliberate action of tearing down a wall and building a bridge.

It is specific.  It either asks the question, "I can tell that I have hurt you; can you help me understand how I have hurt you so that I can work to make it right?" or it is specific in saying, "I feel like or I have acted wrongly towards you in x [y, and z] way." General apologies are good in principle, but do very little to assuage guilt or to heal hurt.  "I'm sorry" is not a magic phrase that ends conflict - it is an acknowledgement that we caused hurt in a specific way.

It (often times) hurts. A true apology costs us something - it costs us both our guilt and our self-defensiveness.  It leaves us exposed, and forces us to face another without shields or weapons, and acknowledge the hurt between us.  It requires humility and vulnerability.

It is not many times, and it is many times.  An apology should not be a place of manipulation for the other person either - if you apologized one time, sincerely for the failure, and the other person cannot or does not want to forgive, then that ball is in their court - it is not required of you to do repeat penance over and over again apologizing for the same thing.  Sincere apology, where guilt is owned, should leave it behind.  However, it is many times, in the sense of, especially in long term relationships, you will often do the same thing over and over and over again, and need to apologize again, and again, and again.  One apology once for the same thing repeated, doesn't get you off the hook.  In fact, the process of confessing and apologizing should actually drive us to repentance in those reiterating places.  The very act of reconciliation should in ideal situation, be part of the process of our own transformation.

It is not merely or always about the rightness or wrongness of action.  Sometimes there is nothing wrong with your actions or words - but they have been hurtful or insensitive to the other person, or hit a wound in the other person that was painful, damaging or disrespectful.  A true apology is more about acknowledging the hurt or the disrespect of the other person, and saying, "I own the ways in which I have caused hurt to you or behaved poorly to you."  Yesterday, I had to apologize to my 11 month old for eating a cinnamon bun in front of him - when he clearly wanted it but wasn't supposed to have it.  Absolutely nothing wrong with eating a cinnamon bun, but it added frustration to him - and to him, felt like taunting (as evidenced by his complete and total meltdown).

It isn't about what anyone has done other than you.  You can't apologize for anything other than what you have done or left undone.  Nor can you do penance for what your actions have "made them do."  At the end of the day, we all have responsibility for our own actions - we can own the ways that we act, the ways that we cause pain (real or perceived), the ways that we fail, the ways that we make others feel.  But we can't change anyone else or carry guilt for anyone else - or make anyone else feel guilt, for that matter.  And an apology is not the place to try and make the other person understand their own errors*.  An apology is actually about absolving guilt, releasing it, and (hopefully) receiving forgiveness and healing in the relationship.

* We can talk more about loving confrontations later - because there is a place for them as well.

It does not justify.  There is plenty of space and time for justification - in argument, and discussion.   However, when you get the place where you are owning your own part in the mess, it cannot be conditional.  "I'm sorry that you felt hurt because you are emotional today" is not an apology.  It is a shift of blame masquerading as an apology.  Anytime a "but you" or "I did it because" enters in to the apology, the apology is morphing in its identity.  

It does not demand reciprocation.  In an ideal world, one apology would be met with another, as conflict is almost always two-sided.  But an apology is about you owning your part, and acknowledging the hurt of the other - and not about forcing the other person to also apologize.  Realistically, while that is incredibly healing to receive, it doesn't always happen.   It can leave the door open, by acknowledging your own hurt - "When you said x, it was really hurtful to me - but I reacted poorly and lashed out at you rather than handling it maturely.  Please forgive me."

It always ends with a request for forgiveness - And I think this is actually one of the most crucial parts of the apology for both the apologizer and the receiver - this is the shaping place for us.  Where either healing happens, or we revert back to our burying ways.  It is tempting when you receive an apology to say, "Oh it's okay, don't worry about it" and to minimize both the conflict and the apology.  I am often guilty of this - because in the same way that it's hard to actually apologize, it's also hard to face the other person and likewise acknowledge that there was hurt on your end as well.  But when we do this, we lose the opportunity to actually build the bridge together and move forward not just not move on.

When Jon and I were in premarital counseling, one of the most valuable skills that our counselor taught us, was the language of confession and forgiveness.  That is to say, all of the above in terms of confession and asking for forgiveness.  And the response of looking the other person in the eyes, respecting and acknowledging their apology and then the building your half of the bridge by saying simply either "that was hurtful to me, thank you for saying that" or "I didn't feel hurt by that, but I appreciate you saying that" and, if you are able, "I forgive you."  Thus completing the circle of absolving and releasing the hurt and guilt.

I recognize that this is not a natural skill in our culture or in our relationships.  I know that it doesn't always go well.  And forgiveness is not always given - and there is legitimate hurt and relational brokenness done to us, that is not our responsibility to apologize for - and I'm not advocating for that in the slightest.  But I am betting that for each of us, there is at least one relationship or place in a broken relationship where we do need to own responsibility.  And I am willing to wager that we would have far healthier relationships were we to practice this a little bit more.

So I dare you... in fact, I double dog dare you... to take a risk, uncomfortable though it may be, to make the first move, to look a friend or family member in the eye and say a sincere, authentic, needed "I'm sorry." May it bring you freedom in this new upcoming year.

29 down, here comes...

In honor of my birthday (yesterday) and the infamous final year before 30, I present to you:

29 things I want to do before I turn 30 (in no particular order)

I could do 30, but let's be honest, I'll probably make it through about half of this list, if I'm diligent, so why set myself up for (worse) failure!  But with no further ado, here you go...

1. Climb Mt. Washington - can be on foot or in a car, I'm not discriminatory, but I've lived here long enough that it's time to just do it already.
2.  Have a BBQ in our backyard
3.  Have my +1 party (finally)* (where all of my friends come over and bring a friend that they think I would enjoy knowing, but haven't met yet - also known as Jon's least favorite party idea ever...)
4.  (Re)establish the Etsy shop that I've been thinking about doing for.ev.er.
5.  Eat a really really tasty steak dinner, with a good red wine

6.  Go away for a weekend or even just an overnight, sans kiddo
7.  Make our own cheese
8.  Complete a second half marathon
9.  Build a snowman
10. Drink more water than coffee most days

11. Have snow on my birthday!  done-skies!
12. Blog more often, and more regularly.  If not blog, then at least write personally.   Jon suggests I quantify this, so how about "more than once a month"?
13. Invent something - every Friday watching Shark Tank, I think... "I should do that..."  Bam. 2014.
14. Have someone write a song for me **ahem** musically talented family
15. Begin the process of thinking about buying a house...  and while not necessarily buying one, figuring out what comes next in our process, and maybe doing that? Like reading a book on it.  Or picking a location

((this is harder than it looks to come up with... you should try being this goal-ish))

16.  Read books regularly
17.  Find a "chick flick" or "rom com" that Jon doesn't hate
18.  Actually make one of the crafty ideas (not food, I do that all the time) that I pin on Pinterest
19.  Watch past seasons of Modern Family
20.  Go to either a Pats game or a Bruins game - filling out my experience of Boston sports.  **Jon might have contributed slightly to this one, as I started running out of inspiration around #12.**

21.  Make plans for Hendig #3 in 2015 - ladies, you know who you are, I'm looking at you...
22.  Learn something new about myself (yes, I'm resorting to intangibles... I'm running out of ideas, but still want to make them realistic goals...)
23.  Move out of my table against the wall (at work) into something that has walls (!walls!)
24.  Roast marshmallows over a fire outside!  And introduce S to s'mores!  Urban camping, take 3?
25.  Get the bed (and a bunch of other misc stuff) out of our dining room (into an intentional space)

26.  Learn how to effectively remove stains from clothing
27.  Send more letters and cards the old fashioned way, regularly
28.  Take the GRE (pretty sure I said this last year too)
29.  Return all the things that I've borrowed but forgotten (or failed) to return thus far.

.... and done.  Remind me not to do this next year... :)  Much love, as we begin year 30!

Margins

As some of you might know, Jon and I have some big decisions, big steps, and big transitions coming up.  We have a lot to process, and we are actively processing a lot.

From where to live to what to do, to when to do it, to what comes next for our family, to what's going on presently for our family, even down to silly things like trying to locate a place where it snows a lot and has beautiful falls and warm summers... and is affordable.  Plus those little things like the continual processing of our ever-growing identities, to some tough and faith-testing circumstances of late, to how to raise a very wiggly toddler well... well, you get the picture.  We're processing a lot and it often feels like we have a lot on our plates.

One of the things I love about InterVarsity New England in particular, is that they take the spiritual health and well-being of their staff seriously.  So, in addition to all of the other conferences, trips, retreats, and work events they have... they also have a staff spiritual formation retreat... 3 days specifically designed to give staff space for their own personal spiritual formation.  Time to listen.  Time to be silent.  Time to be with God and to hear from God, not for the sake of work, although it blesses work, but for the sake of your own heart and soul.   Seriously, they are one things that I miss the most about being on IV staff.  In the midst of the busy, it's a slowing down and perspective shifting that everyone - in ministry and out of it - would benefit from.

Anyhoo - Jon just got back from one a few weeks ago, and one of the things that he brought back with him, was that we needed to do a better job creating margins in our lives.  Space, for God, and for each other.  Non-busy time.  Unplugged time.  Intentionally silent time.  Space, so that we actually can unpack the internal world and the external questions.  While for us it is a Christian, spiritual thing - it is an idea that transcends that - and time and time again is shown to be ridiculously good for human beings to actually have non-noisy space.  Down time, and internal world check-ins, if you will.

Not out of obligations, or a 30 minute mandatory check-off-the-list "quiet time." And not even all about prayer or contemplation or even all process time.  But space where we are not noisy and are not busy and are not constantly moving.   Space for sanity, so we're not "on" from the moment that we wake up until the moment that we fall into bed.  Space so that we both start and stop work intentionally.  Space so that we are beings as well as doings.  Space, so that we actually can have some bandwidth to process some of those heavy-plate things that we're processing.  It's unbelievably hard, by the way, to process anything, with any depth, when you're constantly on.

It's like a dell laptop - the old ones with the really sucky fans (you know what I'm talking about) - left on for like 2 months, with no cool-down time, then being asked to run a multifunction process.  In less than 10 years.  Not going to happen.  Or at very least, not going to be pretty.

So, we're doing it.  We're putting margins in our day.  With a 9 month old.   With two working parents.  With days that start early (our son) and end late (working with college students).  And a lot on our plates.

What does that practically look like?  It's not super complicated or super spiritual at all - and is made easier by the fact that our son does *normally* sleep pretty well.  We get up half an hour earlier, we ask our son to stay in his crib, if he wakes early, until a certain time and have his own personal play-time.  We have "radio silent" time, where all our electronics are off - both in the morning and in the evening - giving us margins and space first thing and last thing in the day.  We go to bed early enough so that we can wake up a little bit before our day has to start.  We are ((trying)) not to eat our meals in front of the television, but actually at the table next to each other, with one another.  And we have start and stop times to work.

Do we do it always?  Absolutely not.  Are we trying daily? Yes.  Do we give ourselves days off, where we can stay up and watch as many episodes of LOST as we want?  Yes, absolutely.

But can I tell you something about margins? About radio silence?  It feels weird at first.  Eerily unconnected (::what if something major happens on facebook and I don't know until tomorrow?????::) But it is also weirdly freeing.  Calming.  Refreshing.  Like breathing fresh air.  Like the busy has a limit, not because it has an end or a cessation, but because we choose to place limits on it.  And you know what?  The work gets done.  And even though we technically have less time, it feels like we have more.

I'm not writing this to shame anyone - in fact, I'm really writing it because we're not great at it, and could use the encouragement of other people knowing and maybe asking us every once in a while.   In fact, honest truth, I both checked my phone in silent time AND slept in past my alarm this morning.   And we ate in front of the television last night.  ::gasp:: And I am writing this this afternoon, because it's not a law, and there is grace.  We're not pros but we're learning, and we're still trying, day-in and day-out, to put intentional space in our days.  And we're inviting you into our process.

I'm writing it as a reminder to myself, that it does actually matter.  That space is a good thing.  That it's counter-cultural, but worth-while.  That we need the space.  That we can do this.  Choosing, daily.

And I'm writing it, hopefully as an encouragement to you, that space is actually a good thing.  That yes, it takes intentionality, yes it is hard, and yes, it is totally counter-cultural.  But it is worth it.  And that no matter how busy your life might seem - students, I know.  Trust me.  I was an 7am to 3am gal in college too.  Parents, I know. They're everywhere.  Always.  And oh so noisy.  But we all generally have the capacity to create space (exceptions - like the first 6 weeks of parenthood - certainly apply, but are, in general, the exception, not the rule), even if it can't be fully silent or alone (parents) or can't be in the morning (college students) or can't be [x] (for you).   Our phones/computers/ipads/gadgets have an off/silent button, and we (for the most part) have the capacity to put a limit on the busy, somewhere in our days.

Maybe this is not for you right now.  And my intention is not to say that it has to be - please forgive me, if it comes across that way - but it is the invitation for us right now.  And it's something that I'm grateful for, wrestling with, longing for, and working towards, so... there ya go. :)

- KD

Most Helpful Baby Products, 9 months in

Warning: mommy blog post to follow.  :)  Feel free to disengage now if that's not your thing.  But in the spirit of new found freedom, here ya go; this is one of the more lighthearted things I've been thinking about this week, among other things.  And this is totally more fun than vocabulary words or math problems, or studying for my first standardized test in over a decade, or all the hard things that I'm exhausted from thinking about, or figuring out our lives, or you know, all those other grown-up things which seem to take so much energy and time.

Most Helpful Baby Products that we used Way More than I Ever Thought we would:

this baby bib: it's made of silicone, it has a spill catcher, it's super easy to wash/clean, and it keeps food from going all over my son.  It was a gift from friends Lynn and Jeremy, and we use it literally every meal that we eat at home.  for S, not for Jon and me, although if they made grown-up ones, I'd think about it.  seriously is going to become my go-to baby-shower gift.

Itzbeen Baby Timer: a friend recommended this, and especially for those first few months of sleep-deprivation/exhaustion, where you can't really remember where your face is, let alone how long ago you fed the baby, this was great.  simple push of a button, bam - extra brain RAM.

the baby wipe warmer: no specific brand, and I honestly thought this was kind of dumb, excessive, unnecessary, etc.  But in the middle of the night when our son would scream because of cold bottom meets colder wipes, and this made this difference between happy 3am changes and scream-y ones, it was totally worth it.

a solid baby carrier - used almost daily.  We started out with a Bjorn when he was little, and then graduated to an Ergo a few weeks ago.  I think if I were to do it again, I'd just do the Ergo, but both served their purposes well - the Ergo is just more versatile, a bit more comfortable, and better for older, e.g. heavier, babies.  And makes a huge difference when you walk a ton, or live in a city that isn't entirely stroller accessible.

Baby spoons which turn white if the food is too hot.  Totally unnecessary, and not something I would pay more to have, but definitely saves a step if it's been a long day and you have a screamy hungry baby.

Pack n Play - S's bed of choice for 3 months, and then our travel bed, guest baby bed, etc.

Baby Trend Jogging Stroller-  much cheaper than its contemporaries, but we've found it to be great, even after heavy usage for 9 months.

Medela Double Electric Breast Pump: if you're planning on going back to work, or leaving baby at all, ever, and are planning to breast-feed, make sure you get a comfortable, good quality pump.  While I loath all things pumping, having a good one as made a huge difference, when you have to hang out with it fairly often.  The Lansinoh hand-pump is also not terrible, for less frequent needs.  I thought about naming mine, I hung out with it so much, but that was just too weird (eww), so we passed.  Also, insurance covers it in most states.  Ask your health care provider.

A paci clip.  Doesn't matter who makes it - crafty friends can make this easily and super cheaply.  But when your kid loves his paci, and loves throwing his paci, or talking, or opening his mouth, or losing his paci regularly, this is an absolute necessity.  Unless you like searching everywhere for the paci.  Or constantly doing the bend and grab.  In which case, enjoy, and disregard.

And for us, with lots of travel, a small sound machine has been a life-saver for helping baby sleep in new places, as well as blocking out noise from small apartment living and noisy neighbors, and sharing rooms, and all those other lovely things.

So there ya go.  Feel free to use any/all/none of it.  :)

Being the Pinata

There are some weeks, where life just seems to catch us, hang us up by the nuts like a piñata, and then take a few more swings.  And then you're just hanging there - bruised, battered, and waiting for the final blow, and the candy to all fall out.  But it hasn't come yet.  So you're just waiting...  and waiting.  And waiting.

This has been one of those weeks.  I apologize for speaking vaguely, but this is neither the space nor the time to elaborate more on that, suffice to say, I'll probably share more later, and it's been a helluvaweek.  And if you're the praying type, well, you know what to do...  and thank you.

But all that to say, as I've found myself in the midst of this week, in the midst of the hanging upside down, waiting for whatever comes next, I've found myself face-to-face with the ease with which I slide into preparing for the worst always - preparing for the final piñata-splitting blow, as if it were inevitable rather than possible.  Writing blog posts (in my head) processing the worst, even though it hasn't happened yet.  Preparing myself mentally to come undone.  Mapping out every possible alternative and possible outcome, most of them not positive.   Letting fear steal joy, even after writing this post so recently.  Even looking for metaphors for the candy, within my own hypothetical piñata metaphor.

And at some point, a few nights ago, I had to stop myself, and realize...

Whether it will, or won't, happen - it hasn't happened yet.  And while not blindly ignoring the possibilities - on either side, positive or negative - I cannot live in a reality that has not yet happened.

Either way, somehow I have to find a way to live in the now.  Even with all its uncertainties, fears, hopes, and unknown.

So me, us, at the moment?

We're clinging to the crucified, broken, victorious Savior. 

At church this morning, during communion, I was struck by the fact that what we are told to remember is "His body broken for you... His blood, poured out for you."  Our Messiah, our hope, is not just a good teacher, telling us how to be whole from a high and lofty place.  But broken, bruised, and bleeding on our behalf, in the trenches with us - and able to lift our heads, because he rose from the dead, in victory out of and over that place, those places.  He is not a stranger to brokenness, or pain.  He weeps alongside us.  And while He does promise to bring beauty out of the ashes, he does not scorn the ashes, the tears, or the hard places.  And so we cling, in hope, to Him - the resurrected, victorious Messiah, who still bears the holes from the nails - in this place.

We're looking for joy in the now.

Not a false joy, which ignores and says that the hard places - the now - does not exist.  Not a happy-go-lucky joy which tries to put a smile on your face and smile away the clouds.  But a sober thankfulness, which acknowledges the joyful things present in the now, in full-light of the hard.  And part of that is looking outside of myself, and being thankful out loud for others.

We're letting ourselves feel.

The full spectrum. With full grace.  And not trying to figure out what we "should" be feeling or "should" be doing or "should" be thinking or "should" know.  Should can be absolutely toxic to growth or healing when it leads us to try and live a life other than our own.  And there is a time and place for moving on, moving forward, but it's not just yet.

We're hoping.

Not blindly.  But with true realism, in the balance of what ifs.  And asking for what we want, not what we think is realistic or plausible, or most likely.  With "thy will be done", yes, but with true desires expressed, that trust that God wants to hear our unlimited hopes not a cautious answer that we think is reasonable.

We're letting friends love us and care for us.

And that adds to the thankfulness.  I hold to, our understanding of friendship will never be deeper or stronger than when we're a mess and we let someone else, who is trustworthy and close, in.

And we're waiting.  In the now, not in the future.  

It's not conclusive, but that's where we are, so that's where we end for now.

KD

little man has been on the outside longer than inside...

Happy nine months, little man - we cannot believe how much of a little kid you are growing into!  I cannot believe that you've now been on the outside for longer than you were growing in Mommy's tummy.  It feels like just yesterday that we were finding out that you were on your way, waiting and hoping for and expecting your arrival.

Your Profile
You weigh in at almost 20 pounds and getting quite tall.  You wear 9-12 month clothes, and even a few 12 month clothes.  You are becoming more and more little boy, and less and less baby.  Mommy can tell that toddler years are right around the corner.  You are pulling up and cruising around the furniture, and even occasionally free-standing, although it catches you completely off-guard most of the time!  You eat like a banshee - and so far, we haven't found anything you won't eat.  You current favorites are lentils with raisins and cumin, avocado, and, as always, banana and cheerios.  And as before, you are constantly on the go!  You badly need a haircut, but we haven't managed to do that yet!

Things you've Learned
You know how to pull up and stand up on almost anything - you are also comfortably cruising around the house on the furniture.  My guess is that you will walk before you are one.  You are also very comfortable feeding yourself - even things that you're not supposed to, like mulch, onion skins, and plastic - and are starting to learn how to use a sippy cup and a spoon.  You've learned how to splash in the bathtub, and how to turn the light in your room off and on.  You haven't said any words yet, but you love making farting noises with your mouth, and can make all the vowel sounds, plus Z, S, and B and some other indistinguishable noises.  When Mommy sings, half the time, you "sing" along with her.

Your Firsts

• You went apple picking for the first time - and loved it!
  
• You went toilet bowl fishing for the first time.  Wish I could say it'll also be your last time, but I'm not so sure.  Needless to say, the toilet locks were installed.
• You've started making farting noises all the time now - and learned how to say "S" and "Z".
• You moved to two meals of solids each day - and love it!
• You stood on your own for 5-10 seconds for the first time.
• You are no longer a vegan - you have tried meat, eggs and yogurt within the last month
• You also had your first cold - and you thought it was hilarious the first few times we used the booger squeegie on your nose. 
• You switched from the front carrier to a back carrier - much more comfortable for Mommy and Daddy, and you get the added perk of getting to pull our hair! :)

Things you Like
You LOVE making farting noises.  You love it when Daddy chases or wraps you up like a burrito after bathtime - and you love having splashing wars with Daddy in the tub.  You love eating - anything and everything.  You like it when Mommy comes home from work - you sprint crawl across the house to get to her.  You like going out - grocery shopping or out for meals - you are fascinated by people watching - and you still love being tossed in the air or tickled!

We love you so much, buddy!  And we love watching you grow more and more into the little man that you are.